Prevalence of falls and its relationship with joint diseases in the elderly in Urmia

Falling is one of the most common and serious health problems in the elderly. As a result of aging, chronic diseases, including joint diseases, increase in the elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of falls and its relationship with joint diseases in the elderly in Urmia.

This study is a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study in which 200 elderly people were selected by random cluster sampling. Necessary information was collected using a two-part questionnaire including demographic information, joint diseases of the elderly and a history of falls in the elderly in the past year. Data were analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression tests in SPSS v.21 software.

The results of this study showed that the rate of falls in the elderly was 30%. Falling was statistically significantly associated with age, gender, marital status and joint disease. The results of logistic regression showed that the chance of falling of the elderly who had one of the joint and bone diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout ... was 6.2 times higher compared to healthy elderly (OR = 6.2 ).  

The findings of this study showed that the incidence of falls in the elderly in Iran is relatively high and in accordance with the effective factors obtained in falls in the elderly, including joint diseases, appropriate and effective preventive interventions should be performed.